There was a period in my life when I ate carbs. I bought no meat, no poultry, no pork, no fish. In my view, such luxury items were not worth budgeting for, so they were never to be found in my fridge.

My diet was easy, sufficient in terms of nutrition, cheap, and without deviation.

After work I’d pull my one pot down from the dropped hook and boil a cup of white rice with a half-cup of dried lentils and green or yellow split peas. Into this pond of carbs I would add broccoli florets. More than once I uttered cruciferous as I pushed them into the boiling water with a knife.